E J & J Pearson marked brick, manufactured in Stourbridge.

Brick marks

Man has used brick for building purpose for thousands of years. Bricks date back to 7000 BC, which makes them one of the oldest known building materials.

By the time of Henry VIII the art of brickmaking was highly advanced in England. After the great fire of London in 1666, the city was rebuilt mainly using bricks.

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the need for building materials to supply the new industries and housing for workers was paramount and, as technology developed permanent brick works began to be built. It was at this time in London that bright red brick was chosen for construction to make the buildings more visible in the heavy fog and to help prevent traffic accidents.

To distinguish their bricks from their competitors brick makers began to routinely stamp their bricks around early/mid-19th century with a distinctive mark, usually in the frog (depression on the top), but occasionally on the side.

These marks would bear details such as the manufacturer’s name, the brickworks site owners’ name, their initials, the name of the brickworks or place of manufacture or indeed any combination of such. The year of manufacture was often stamped also. Such stamping of these bricks was one of the earliest forms of advertising on a large scale.

Although red bricks had been made locally as and when required from the time of the Moorish occupation. Industrial scale bricks began to arrive in Gibraltar from the UK around the 1860’s specifically for the construction of colonial edifices such as the Police station in Irish Town and the Convent façade, both of which are contemporary.

Left over or damaged bricks were often used as ballast aboard ships or to lay the foundations of new buildings as is the case of the Godley Mansions foundations along Booth’s Passage for example, where a motley collection of different manufactured bricks have been laid. A number of these bricks are identifiable and can be traced back to their manufacturers.

Brick layers themselves often ‘marked’ their work, and their graffiti can also be seen in places along Booth’s passage giving us clues as to the date the building foundations were first laid.

Motley collection of brickwork, Booth's Passage.